FINRA Firm Element CE Program Requirements for Registered Representatives

All active registered representatives and those associated members who participate in FINRA’s MQP are required to complete firm element and regulatory element training as directed by their firm and/or FINRA.

The Maintain Qualifications Program (MQP) is for individuals who have left the securities industry for non-disciplinary reasons allowing them to re-enter the securities industry within five years without having to re-take registration exams as long as they comply with firm element and regulatory element requirements. To participate individuals must opt in and create a FinPro account with FINRA. This is where you will receive notification of any continuing education (CE) required to keep your registration(s) in compliance with the MQP program.

The FINRA continuing education requirements are composed of two elements:

• Firm element
• Regulatory element

Both components must be completed to stay in compliance with FINRA rules.

There is no required number of hours; the decision on which courses to complete and which topics to cover is at the broker-dealer's discretion.

FINRA considers annual training on topics relevant to the business of the broker-dealer firm, annual compliance meeting, and anti-money laundering training as components of the firm element training.

Annually

Yes, the course selection is at the discretion of the broker-dealer firm.

Excess CE hours are not allowed to be carried forward to the next cycle.

Firm element training can be successfully completed through a variety of means, including online courses, in-person meetings, webinars, conferences and other means that can be tracked by the broker-dealer. Firm element training and selected format for that training are at the discretion of the broker-dealer firm.

Firm element training only counts toward IAR CE if the firm element training materials are approved by NASAA.

Annually.

Regulatory Element can be completed through FINRA’s FinPro Gateway

FINRA will publish topics to be covered by the regulatory element in October of the previous calendar year.

The regulatory element may be considered an equivalent to the products and practices portion of the IAR CE requirement. Individuals must submit a request to have their regulatory element applied to their IAR CE requirement to FINRA and they must pay the required roster fee of $18.

• FINRA e-Learning courses may or may not require a non-monitored final exam. In some courses the required interactivity and quizzes within the course material are sufficient to complete the course without a final exam. In other courses, a final exam is required.

12 months from the original date of purchase

WebCE does not report course completions. Course completions are stored in the WebCE system and broker-dealer administrators have access to reports for tracking and audit purposes.